Another aspect to the more advanced Chinese herb learning method that I teach is diving into the huge amount of information concerning where herbs grow up.  Using the metaphor of the growth and development of a human being, it is undeniable that where we grow up influences the people we end up becoming.  The same is true of Chinese herbs!

I was going to write out this article, but I just couldn’t manage to sit in front of the computer, typing.  So, I made a podcast instead.  Enjoy it!  Inside, I talk about why I love the herb method I teach, why location matters when it comes to Chinese herbs, and I do a very small bit of application with one of your friends and mine, Chenpi – aurantium – citrus peel.

If you are having trouble playing the podcast in your browser window – you have two options.  First, you can just click the link below to download the podcast and listen to it from your computer.  It’s virus free, I promise.  Second, you can go to iTunes and subscribe to the podcast there – the newest episode should be listed.  Sometimes the iTunes feed doesn’t work so well, but it’s been behaving lately.

Let me know if you have any trouble - and please come back and comment to let me know how you liked it.

Learning Chinese herbs : does where they grow really matter?

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Hey everyone,

I’m going to jump on the Podcast wagon again.  In this episode:

• Why am I doing a podcast AGAIN?
• Talking about starting a business
• To take insurance or not to take insurance : a one-sided debate
• It’s fun to use my microphone again
• Yes, I know one channel is almost silent – I’ll fix it next time, promise.
• If you ask nicely, maybe a videocast is in our future…

Check it out and come back here to let me know what you think in the comments!

New and Improved Deepest Health Podcast – Ep 1 – Intro & Insurance

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On this inaugural day of the New Era here at Deepest Health, I would like to offer something long overdue.  You may remember a particularly engaging podcast interview series with Arnaud Versluys PhD, LAc who practices here in Portland, OR but teaches Chinese herbal medicine all over the world.  He has recently created the Institute for Classics in East Asian Medicine (ICEAM) which I hope to be working with for the rest of my days.  If you haven’t already, I recommend you sign up for and participate in his forum, and check out his upcoming class offerings.

In case you lost the links:

The first part of the Arnaud Versluys interview

The second part of the Arnaud Versluys interview

And now, without further delay – listen to the final portion.  It is a shorter section, focused on a couple of topics very dear to my heart.  First, what to do when you cannot secure the herbs you need (for instance, Mahuang and Xixin).  Second, what about growing our own herbs locally and using them in Chinese herbal formulas?  I think you will find the listen worth your time.

Deepest Health Classical Chinese Medicine Podcast 14 : Part III of Dr. Versluys interview

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Hello everyone,

I have big plans for the Deepest Health podcast.  I really enjoyed doing my clinical updates, but they proved a little too time intensive for my current workload.  In the future, I’ll be providing all kinds of information in audio format.  Despite this planned diversification, let it be known that I enjoy doing interviews more than I enjoy doing any other kind of podcast.  Perhaps it’s the nascent journalist within me?

When I contacted Mark Silver, founder of the Heart of Business and Portland local, I was hoping to entice him to come and speak to students at NCNM.  I succeeded in that, with the additional bonus that he was kind enough to offer to do a podcast interview with me for Deepest Health!  Score!  After a few fits and starts, we managed to make our schedules line up nicely and we sat down for a chat on an early spring morning.  I was amazed at the ease with which we spoke.  I was excited by the important information he shared.  I look forward to more collaboration with Mark in the future.

For now, I encourage you to listen to the podcast (below).  If you like what you hear, head immediately over to his website, Heart of Business.com.  He has a ton of free information available, as well as a weekly newsletter that is frequently insightful.

If you are in the Portland area, I encourage you to come to Mark’s talk at NCNM (click for a map to the location). It is free and open to the public. If you plan to come, do head over to his site to fill out this survey about what you would most like to have him speak about.  I hope to share highlights from his talk after the weekend.  You can click on the flyer below to enlarge it.  Mark’s talk is part of the NCNM Student Government Association 2008-2009 Speaker Series, as I discussed in my prior post about Heiner Fruehauf’s talk. You can find a flyer for the full series on that post.

Thanks for listening!

Deepest Health Classical Chinese Medicine Podcast 13 : Interview with Mark Silver concerning business in natural medicine

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I’m glad so many people enjoyed the first episode of this podcast interview with Dr. Arnaud Versluys LAc, PhD.  The second part finds Dr. Versluys expanding on his definition of Classical Chinese medicine by discussing how one uses the Shang Han Lun in contemporary clinical practice, particularly concerning complex diseases typically seen in modern times.  He also discusses the importance of specializing in a particular style of Chinese medicine and gives some advice to those of us seeking knowledge in this profession.  I think you’ll really enjoy the information AND the audio quality – I think I finally got it right.  :)  Check it out at the bottom of this article!

If you missed the first part of the interview with Dr. Versluys you can find it here.  For more background on the six conformations read the article linked here.    I also encourage you to check out Dr. Versluys’ website, particularly the forums – a great place for discussing Canonical Chinese Medicine.

Dr. Versluys uses a few names that may be unfamiliar to listeners – I want to clarify these things for you.  Li Dong Yuan is the author of The Treatise on the Spleen and Stomach (Pi Wei Lun).  Zhang Zhong Jing is (hopefully obviously) the author of the Shang Han Lun
and Jin Gui Yao Lue (originally united as the Shang Han Za Bing Lun).  I think those are the only names he uses.

I’ll release the final part of the interview early next week – it’s a short piece focusing specifically on the issue of herb substitution and the possibility of growing Chinese herbs in the United States.  I hope you enjoy today’s podcast!  As always, feel free to leave any comments – discussion is a great thing!  :)

Eric

Deepest Health Chinese Medicine Podcast Episode 12 : Interview with Dr. Arnaud Versluys LAc, PhD (Part 2 of 3)

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Happy Election day to all of my readers in the United States of America!  I’ve cast my vote for Classical Chinese Medicine by publishing the first part of my podcast series with Dr. Arnaud Versluys.  :D

This is a pretty brief piece where he answers the question, “What is Classical Chinese Medicine?”  I think you’ll find some great information in there about the relationship of the Classical texts to the practice of medicine, the importance of careful study as well as some food for thought regarding the various schools of Chinese medicine.  I’ll release the second part of the podcast before the end of the week and release the conclusion, a little vignette about herbal access and herb substitution next week.

Look also for my regular Saturday podcast this week – ok, so it hasn’t been very regular lately, but I hope we can get past that.  ;)  Enjoy the podcast!

Deepest Health Chinese Medicine Podcast Episode 11 : Interview with Dr. Arnaud Versluys LAc, PhD (Part 1 of 3)

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Welcome to another Episode of the Deepest Health Podcast! In this episode, I discuss my reflections as I come to the end of my first term/quarter in clinic at NCNM.  I reiterate the importance of memorization and excellent patient care, but then go in a philosophical direction on a couple of topics.  First, I discuss my experience of being able to separate the disease from the person experiencing the disease.  Second, I talk about the paradoxical reactions of some patients to treatment.  I wrap up the podcast by a discussion of utilizing our many human gifts, referring often to the quintissential “Renaissance Man,” Leonardo da Vinci.

In the podcast, I reference a blog – but cannot remember the name of the blog, so cannot link to the post that inspired my da Vinci explorations.  If you, for some strange reason, know what I’m talking about – let me know and I’ll link it.  I also reference a book I’m currently reading about da Vinci and the practices one might take from his life.  You can click on the link below to check it out.

Deepest Health Chinese Medicine Podcast : Episode 10 : End of term clinical reflections

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Here’s the second part of Friday’s podcast interview with Heiner Fruehauf. If you missed the first portion, you can access it by following the link to Deepest Health Classical Chinese Medicine podcast, Episode 8. There you can also find links to Heiner’s various web presences and learn about what he’s doing now. I hope to offer more information on the Classical Pearls product he recently released, as well as offering Deepest Health readers a great option for signing up with the Associates Forum at Classicalchinesemedicine.org.

Thanks for listening!
Eric

Deepest Health Chinese Medicine podcast : Episode 9 : Interview with Dr. Heiner Fruehauf, Part II

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